Dan Muse left a healthy Sidney Crosby out of the Penguins' top three shootout shooters tonight, believed to be a first in Crosby's career.
Pittsburgh went with Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel instead. The Penguins lost 3-2 in a shootout in Columbus, with Cam Talbot getting the win.
The numbers help explain it. Crosby came into the night with no goals, two assists and a -3 rating through four games.
Kindel, just 19, has been the hot hand with two goals and four points. Muse rode the form, not the name.
That's a big symbolic moment for a franchise built around No. 87. It raises a question nobody in Pittsburgh wants to ask yet.
Is the end starting to close in? Alex Ovechkin is already treating this as his final season in Washington, taking in his last home opener with his sons.
Sidney Crosby at 39 faces questions he hasn't heard before
Crosby carries an $8,700,000 cap hit. He hasn't said anything about his future, and nothing suggests he's preparing to step away.
He's still a huge part of this team. He was right in the middle of the scrum against Philadelphia and went after Michael Matheson when Montreal visited.
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Muse made the right call. A coach picking shooters on current form isn't writing a eulogy, and Crosby would likely make the same choice if he were behind the bench.
It's like a band letting the new guitarist take the solo. The frontman is still the reason everyone bought tickets.
The Penguins host Dallas on Saturday, on the second half of a back-to-back.
One shootout doesn't end a career. But for the first time, Pittsburgh chose someone else when the game was on the line, and everyone noticed.
Is Sidney Crosby nearing the end of his career?
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